News

UK researchers literally squeeze more power from solar cells Researchers led by Professor Marin Alexe at Warwick University, have demonstrated a way to produce more energy using Photovoltaic (PV) Solar Panels. The short explanation is that by deforming the crystals in the semiconductor materials by pressing on them – a process that utilises the PV’s anisotrophic properties – the efficiency of the PV panel can be increased. In traditional solar cells, that use the p and n junction system, light is absorbed by the cell and the charge carriers are sent off in different directions along the semiconductors producing a current and a voltage. The new solar cells, using something...

Hawking’s Final Research Prof Stephen Hawking is still making waves amongst scientists with the release of his final research paper that suggests that the universe that we know may be one of many mirroring our own. This comes from Hawking’s own Cosmic Paradox Theory, paving a way forward for future researchers and scientists to explore and find their own evidence of parallel universes. Hawking’s, theories were released and submitted to the Journal of High-Energy Physics just 10 days prior to his death in March this year. Hawking’s proposed his new theories in a paper jointly written with fellow Professor Thomas Hertog from KU Leuven based in Belgium, and funded by...

The Mozilla Foundation conducts Internet Health Report With the rather tumultuous recent climate surrounding big data and social media companies, such as the painfully recent issues Facebook has been undergoing regarding security and privacy surrounding people’s data and its mishandling of, in relation to the 87 million plus people that data firm Cambridge Analytica was able to obtain meaningful and private information on, it’s no wonder than many other companies are taking notice, not least of which is the Mozilla Foundation. Mozilla have released a report, with presumably more articles and analysis being added in time, titled the “Internet Health” report. Mark Surman, Executive Director of the Mozilla Foundation, describes...

Weatherspoons calls time on social media Pub chain J D Wetherspoon have taken the decision to drop their social media presence following an announcement on their Twitter page, effectively leaving an audience of over 44,000 followers. Their decision follows a time of bad publicity around the use of social media that also includes “trolling” incidents involving MPs, the misuse of personal data as well as influences surrounding the “addictive nature of social media”. It is believed that 900 public houses across the UK will leave Twitter, Instagram and Facebook with ‘immediate effect’. Wetherspoons Chairman, Tim Martin, believes that their move to remove themselves from social media sites will not affect...

Propping up the wind turbine industry 17th March, 2018 was an important day for renewable energy resources in the UK. It was on this day that the National Grid reported that more than a third of the energy generation for domestic use in the UK was generated by wind power, a record amount to date. As the UK seeks to lower pollution and raise the use of renewable resources this is very positive news. How can the amount of wind power generated be increased further? The use of inshore and offshore wind farms is difficult when land fit for this particular purpose in the UK is sparse and large areas...

Droning on about landslides A group of campaigners have urged the Environmental Agency to use a fleet of drones to uncover bad farming practices across the UK with a view of penalising farmers who allow soil to run off their fields. It is believed that only 0.5% of farms are checked each year, yet coalition campaigners feel that not enough is being done to protect rivers or rising flood numbers. The groups feel that poor and careless farming is the cause of the decline of the United Kingdoms rivers, with much of the farmers waste off their fields causing our riverbeds to fill with sludge and become a potential cause...

The Facebook Cambridge Analytica scandal Facebook has been weathering scandals to varying degrees almost since its inception, but this one tops them all to date and then some. While many companies over the years have been compromised for various reasons and customer data has been leaked, and most of said companies have survived these events, albeit not unscathed, Facebook’s latest situation is in a whole other league, especially considering that the exploitation of its network data didn’t even originate from an unauthorized hack. The centre of all this attention is because of Donald Trump and the fact that his political team utilised the services of Cambridge Analytica (CA) during his...

Easter eggs: more box than chocolate? Well, according to survey carried out by Which?, a third of your Easter egg weight comes from its actual packaging. The survey was based on the 10 top selling eggs across the United Kingdom and included brands such as Lindt, Thorntons, Mars, and Cadbury. Which?’s research showed that the cardboard and plastic surrounding your Easter egg adds up to a third of the total weight of the entire package. Thorntons came at the top of the survey, with an excess 35% of its weight arising from the packaging. Thorntons responded, explaining that the reason for packaging this way was to seal in freshness and...

Cheryl Dyer Ballard takes a look at the incredible life of Stephen Hawking, cosmologist, scientist, and one of the most incredible minds of all time. Trapped in a failing body, he netherless succeeded where others would have given up, producing some incredible work over the course of the last few decades, increasing our understanding of the universe, time, space and reality. This week, Cheryl takes a good look at the man, his career and his legacy. This week has seen one of the saddest moments in the world of science and education, with the passing of British Theoretical Physicist, Cosmologist, Author and Director of Research at the Centre of...

Andy Cormack gives us the heads up on what’s on the horizon in hardware and technology, giving you the lowdown on the next big thing. In March’s update, Andy looks at NASA funding for small research and development outfits, the resurrection of an unadulterated design classic, and another car company announces its intention to develop an autonomous vehicle.NASA Invests $96 Million Into Small Tech Research Companies A press release posted by NASA on their website on the 7th March details Phase 2 of its Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, having selected 128 proposals from small American tech companies to aid in the advancement of tech research. The idea...